“Part of that has been driven by in this part of the world
a diversification of economies,” Hochberg said in an interview
yesterday in Riyadh. “We see a lot of opportunity here. U.S.
companies haven’t been here sufficiently.”

The Saudi government has announced investment plans of more
than $500 billion as the monarch tries to diversify the economy
away from oil, which accounts for 90 percent of government
revenue, and expand airports and build roads and rail lines.
Saudi Arabia raised total spending in its budget by almost a
fifth this year to $219 billion.

The Ex-Im Bank authorized in September a $5 billion loan to
Sadara Chemical Co., a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and
Dow Chemical Co. The credit for construction of the
petrochemical complex in Jubail on the Persian Gulf boosted
total Ex-Im Bank loans to the world’s largest exporter to $5.5
billion, or almost half of the $11.8 billion in loans authorized
in 2012, according to the Washington-based bank’s annual report.